A traveling medical technician thought to have infected at least 39 people with hepatitis C through his use of stolen hospital drugs and syringes has been indicted on 14 new charges. David Kwiatkowski was arrested in July and charged with tampering with a consumer product and illegally obtaining drugs, primarily fentanyl, an anesthetic about 80 times more potent than morphine. He was indicted late Wednesday by a federal grand jury on 14 additional counts. A U.S. attorney said Kwiatkowski, 33, used stolen syringes to inject himself, causing them to become tainted, before filling them with saline and replacing them for use in medical procedures.

mexico city

Crime wave leaves 25,000 missing

Mexico's attorney general has compiled a list showing more than 25,000 adults and children have gone missing in the past six years, according to unpublished government documents, the Washington Post reported. The data sets, submitted by state prosecutors and vetted by the federal government, chronicle the disappearances in the chaos and violence that have enveloped Mexico as it fights drug mafias and crime gangs. Families are left wondering if their loved ones are alive or among the more than 100,000 victims of homicides recorded during the presidency of Felipe Calderon, who leaves office Saturday.

baghdad

Attacks in Iraq kill at least 43 people

An explosives-laden car blew up Thursday in Hilla, a Shiite-dominated city south of Baghdad, sending shrapnel ripping through the crowd. As an ambulance raced to the scene, another suicide car bomber detonated his payload as the first responders gathered. Officials said 32 people were killed and 138 were wounded, making the bombings the worst in a day of insurgent attacks across Iraq. Other attacks in Karbala, a Shiite holy city in the south, Fallujah, Mosul and Baghdad left 16 people dead and about 70 wounded.

washington

N. Korea readies rocket launch

Satellite photos indicate North Korea has moved two sections of a long-range rocket in preparation for a launch that would alarm both its adversaries and lone ally China. But North Korea has yet to give international notification of its plans, leaving some uncertainty whether and when it will proceed with a launch that would be sure to draw international condemnation. The U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies said Thursday the recent activity suggests it could be ready to launch a three-stage rocket by the end of next week.

houston

George H.W. Bush is hospitalized

Former President George H.W. Bush was in a hospital Thursday for continuing treatment of a lingering cough. Bush, 88, has been in and out of the hospital recently for complications resulting from bronchitis, Methodist Hospital said in a statement. The hospital and Bush's spokesman described the former president's condition as stable and said they expected him to be released by the weekend. He has been under hospital care nearly a week. "This was never a serious or life-threatening situation," said Dr. Amy Mynderse, an internal medicine specialist in charge of Bush's care.